Frank Bernard Hill was born on January 20, 1883, in Omaha, Illinois (about 6 miles south of Norris City, IL.)
He was the 4th of 8 children (4 boys, 4 girls) born between 1878 and 1899 to Henry Hezekiah and Mary Elizabeth (Jordan) Hill. The family lived on a farm in Indian Creek Township
(White County), about 1.5 miles NE of Norris City, IL.

His Parents.Henry Hezekiah Hill (1853-1936) and Mary Elizabeth (Jordan) Hill (1858-1951).
Henry was born on March 6, 1853, in Indian Creek Township (White County), IL, to John F. Hill (1828-1885) and Rebecca L. (Vineyard) Hill (1831-1903). Both John and Rebecca had been born in White County, IL: John in the same Township as Henry. Both families had migrated to IL from pre-revolutionary Colonial America.

The migration of the Hill family to IL began with Samuel Hill,Jr., who was born in 1775 in St Paul's Parish, Hanover County, VA. I know little about Samuel Hill, Sr., except that he was born around 1750 and is listed in the first US Census of St Paul's Parish, Hanover County, Virginia, as the head of a household of 6 white persons and no black persons.

In about 1799, Samuel Hill, Jr, married Nancy Parthenia, who had been born in Virginia in 1774. In 1808 Samuel and Nancy left Hanover County, VA, striking out for the Western Frontier with their four children Lucy Ann (8), Austin (5), Evilina Jane (3) and John (2). The family traveled by wagon over the Wilderness Road that started in Virginia, passed through Tennessee, and continued into Kentucky
along the trail blazed by Daniel Boone through the Cumberland Gap. It was in Tennessee that Nancy gave birth to her fifth child, Samuel Hill III, in 1809. Sadly, Nancy died either in childbirth or shortly thereafter. Samuel Jr continued on with his five children through Kentucky finally settling in 1819 in White County, IL, on a homestead about 15 miles west of the Wabash River. Two years later, Samuel's 18 year old son Austin (1803-1874) married Sarah Elizabeth (Sally) Porter (1801-1886).
Austin and Sally, living in White County, IL, had at least 8 children one of whom was John F Hill, Henry Hezekiah's father.

The following is written about John F. Hill in the White Co., IL history book from 1883 on page 888/9: "John F. Hill, section 17, Indian Creek Township, was born in this township, June 28, 1827. His father, Austin Hill, was a native of Hanover County, Va., but was taken by his parents to Sumner County, Tenn., when five years old, and soon after to Kentucky, and to this county in 1819. John F. was reared on a farm, and educated
in the log cabin school house. He and the boys cleared about 100 acres in the woods. He was married Sept. 11, 1848 (NOTE: The White Co., IL marriages indicate the marriage took place 5 Sep 1849), to Rebecca, daughter of Thomas M. Vineyard. Of their ten children, but six are living Hezekiah, Albert, Mary C., Dola, John M. and Minnie B. One son, Thos. A., died at the age of eighteen years. Mr. Hill was Constable eight years,
Township Collector one year, and is now Commissioner of Highways. He is a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian church. Mr Hill commenced life with fifty cents and a horse."(See.)

Frank's mother, Mary Elizabeth (Jordan) Hill was born in June of 1858 in White County, IL, to William Jordan, Jr, (1839-)and Caroline (Summers) Jordan (1836-) both of whom were also born in Illinois.

The American roots of Mary Elizabeth Jordan's family stretch back to 1635 Colonial Virginia. It was in that year that 8 year old Arthur Jordan II arrived with his family from England in Surry County, Virginia. (I've seen statements (unconfirmed) that the family came from Surrey, England.) Arthur's family consisted of father, Arthur Jordan Jr., brothers George (abt1620-1678) and William (aft1628-aft1664) and
sisters Fortune (abt1623-1669) and Mary (abt1623-aft1658). Information about Arthur's mother is very sketchy.

In April 1654 at the age of 27, Arthur Jordan II married Elizabeth Bevin, apparently, another English immigrant, in Surry County, Virginia. Arthur and Elizabeth had 5 children all born in Surry County, VA: Thomas (1655-1685), James (1657-1697), George Arthur (1660-1718), River (1661-1701), and Elizabeth (1664-1735).

Arthur's brother Lt.-Col George Jordan became very involved in the politics of 17th century Virginia. George served multiple terms in the House of Burgesses and was the Attorney General of Virginia from 1670 until his death in 1678. Arthur Jordan II lived on a plantation at the head of Sunken Marsh off the James River. Unlike his brother George he stayed out of the politics of Virginia and conducted his life as a planter.

Arthur and Elizabeth's son George Arthur Jordan is the ancestor of Mary (Jordan) Hill. In about 1685 George married Mary Browne (1657-1725), daughter of Col. William Browne, another prominent figure in Surry County, Virginia, history. In 1687 George and Mary had a son they named George Arthur Jordan III (1687-1761). It was this ancestor of Mary (Jordan) Hill that moved with his wife, Sarah (Sallie) Hunt (1693-1761) to Granville County, North Carolina, sometime before 1718.

Several generations of Mary Jordan's ancestors remained in North Carolina before migrating to Illinois sometime after 1794. Mary's grandparents, William Jordan Sr, and Mary Polly (Jones) Jordan were married on March 2, 1818, in White County, IL.

Between the 1840's and the 1880's there was a rapid growth in the network of railroad lines in Illinois and throughout the midwest in general. One of the new lines ran from Cairo, in the southern tip of Illinois, up through Carmi and White County into Wabash County and Mt Carmel. It was called the "Little Egypt" line and was part of the Cairo Division of the Big Four Railroad (the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St Louis Railway).
In 1902, Vanderbilt expanded his New York Central Railroad into Illinois with the inaugaration of the famous "Twentieth Century Limited" train (16 hours from New York City to Chicago and return).

I can imagine that the Rairoad had glamour and a powerful appeal to young Frank - a farm boy living in the same township, and probably, the same farm as his great-grandfather. Frank left the farm and began working for the Railroad sometime before 1910. (In 1906, the New York Central acquired the Big Four Railway and operated it as an independent company until about 1930.)

The Big Four Railroad shops in Mt Carmel, Illinois, in about 1910. Frank almost certainly spent a lot of time at this facility.
(This photo is taken from https://www.flickr.com/photos/82856031@N04/24528240120 and is reproduced here in accordance with the Flickr license agreement.)
On January 5, 1910, Frank(26) married Ida Ellen Kohlhass (31) in Mt. Carmel, Wabash County, IL.
They had two children: George Eugene ("Gene") Hill, born December 17, 1911, and Mary Lucille Hill, born September 17, 1914. Both children were born in Mt Carmel, IL.

Frank and Ida's son Gene circa 1916.Gene and Mary Lucille Hill.In the 1920 Federal Census the family is listed as living at 419 West 6th Street in Mt Carmel, llinois, and Frank's occupation is listed as Railroad Engineer. Sometime in the early 1920's, Ida's mother Margaret, father Gus, brother George, and her two neices, Donna and Mary Helen Kohlhass all moved out to San Bernardino, California. Two of Ida's aunts,
Clara Ellen (Stolz) Foster, and Lora Emiline (Stolz) Vickrey were also living in California (Pomona) in the 1920's. Frank and Ida decided to join the exodus and they with Gene and Lucille moved out to San Bernardino. But Ida was joining her entire family while Frank was leaving behind his mother, father, seven brothers and sisters and many aunts and uncles.

The Kohlhass family began operating a chicken ranch on 19th Street east of Mt Vernon Avenue in San Bernardino, California. Perhaps it was the change in occupation or the asymmetry in the presence of family members, but, for whatever reason, Frank eventually decided that this life didn't suit him and he returned (in the late 20's?) to his job as an Engineer on the New York Central Railroad back in Illinois.

In 1932 Frank sued Ida for divorce but, most likely because of her Catholic faith, she refused to grant it.
For all intents and purposes, for most of her life in San Bernardino, Ida was single mother.
I'm sure she had help from her parents and her brother, but Frank was an absentee father. Legend has it that Frank provided little or no child support
and only rarely visited San Bernardino. (I think my Dad, Gene, felt abandoned during his teen age years. Dad did tell me about a visit by Frank in 1930, where he gave Gene
a Hamilton wrist watch for his 18th birthday. It's the only thing he ever recalled getting from his father.)

This is the watch that Frank gave to Gene for his 18th birthday in 1930 and that Gene gave to me on my 18th birthday in 1954.
(If any faily member reading this has an idea about who would like to inherit and would treasure this watch, I'd like to hear from you at roger_hill@q.com .)Frank with his "regular train crew". According to Jack Davies, Frank's son-in-law, the people in the photo are (L to R): Frank, his fireman, 2 brakemen and his conductor.
Frank had this photo made into a postcard that he sent from Mt Carmel to some of the family. No date is given but the logo on the tender says "New York Central" so it may have been taken about 1930.
In August of 1933 Frank's son Gene married Alice Marie Greek in Riverside, CA, and in August of 1938 his daughter Lucille married John Ogwen (Jack) Davies in San Bernardino, CA. Frank did not attend either wedding.
In February, 1936, his first grandson was born (me) and in May of 1936, his father, Henry Hezekiah died in Norris City, Illinois.I found no public records of Frank's whereabouts in the 1930's. When he registered for the World War II draft in 1942 he was listed as living in Cairo, Illinois. So he was evidently still driving trains on the "Little Egypt" line for the New York Central in the 1940's.

New York Central locomotive Number 2016 in the yards at Mt Carmel, Illinois, in 1939. This is very likely one of the locomotives that Frank drove on the "Little Egypt" line of the Cairo division of the New York Central Railway.
(This photo is taken from https://www.flickr.com/photos/82856031@N04/25004066822/ and is reproduced here in accordance with the Flickr license agreement.)
By the mid-1940's Frank's family in California had grown. He now had seven grandchildren living there and his brother had moved to Anaheim, CA. Frank's wife Ida was living with her daughter Lucille Davies' family. Frank's visits to San Bernardino became more frequent.These photos were taken circa 1948 at the Davies' family 1 acre "farm" near the corner of Electric Avenue and 41st Street in San Bernardino, CA.
At left is Frank with his youngest grandchild, David Davies, and on the right with the family cow, Goldie.
In the summer of 1951, Gene and Alice took a vacation by railroad to visit the Hill family in southern Illinois.
At that time Frank's mother, Mary had been bedridden for almost 10 years and under the loving care of her daughters, Cora and Radie. Gene with Frank's sisters Minnie (L) and Radie. White County, IL, 1951. Gene with Frank's sisters Radie (L) and Minnie. White County, IL, 1951.On September 28, 1951, Frank's mother Mary Elizabeth (Jordan) Hill passed away at the age of 93.Mary Elizabeth (Jordan) Hill (1858-1951). Henry Hezekiah and Mary Elizabeth Hill are buried together with their daughter Radie in Union Cemetery in Norris City, Illinois.
The headstone in the background bears the name Vineyard which was Henry's mother Rebecca's maiden name.
In the late 1950's Frank retired from the New York Central and moved permanently to California. He lived with Ida in a guest house on Lucille and Jack Davies'
property on Slover Avenue in Fontana/Blomington.Frank and his brother Thomas Alvin Hill (1884-1964) at Tom's house in Anaheim, CA. May, 1958.
Ida and Frank, May 1959.Ida with Frank, Alice and Gene Hill, Newport Avenue, Fontana, 2 Apr 1961. Sometime in the mid-fifties, Gene acquired an 8mm movie camera and began to document some of the family events.
I have reformatted some clips from his movies and made them available as HTML5 videos in the Video Vault on this website.
I have assembled clips from Gene's home movies showing scenes of Frank and Ida taken over the years 1955 to 1966. The video starts at Frank and Ida's home in Fontana, CA, that was
located on the property of their daughter, Lucille Davies, and family on Slover Avenue. To see the video click: Frank&Ida.
Frank at the Baptism of his first great-grandson, Robert E Hill born on 7 Aug 1964, in Fontana, CA.
L to R: Framk, grandson John Holding Robert, Gene, and grandson, James Hill.
On 28 May, 1966 Frank's wife Ida Ellen (Kohlhass) Hill passed away at a nursing home in Ontario, CA.
A year later, on 4 May 1967 Frank Bernard Hill, passed away also in Ontario, CA.
Ida and Frank are buried side by side in plots 690 and 691 in the Grandview Section of Montecito Memorial Park at the end of Waterman Avenue in San Bernardino/Colton, CA.
Frank Bernard Hill (1883-1967).

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